


a queen, her knight, and a gentleman's agreement?

by 49shadesofgrey



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Medieval, F/M, Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, but still modern??? i guess???, everyone is currently alive, everyone is human, it's like a kingdom type deal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-24
Updated: 2013-09-23
Packaged: 2017-12-27 11:44:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/978490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/49shadesofgrey/pseuds/49shadesofgrey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Come, sit with me," Cora smiles. She takes note of how he looks at her while she wears her riding outfit.<br/>Boyd is wary. He feels he should stay atop his horse, in case anyone has followed them or plans to attack. "Your Majesty?"<br/>"I want us to talk. Please?" And he obliges.</p><p>or, the one where cora is the queen of beacon kingdom and boyd is her first knight and stiles is trying to take her throne.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> UM this is a working title until i figure something else out.
> 
> tags and people will be added as necessary or whatevs. rated g for now xoxo laterz.

Her Majesty Queen Cora, the second daughter and youngest child of the late King Joseph and Queen Talia, the younger sibling of the late Princess Laura and estranged Prince Derek, has reigned supreme at the head of the Hale family and head of the Beacon Kingdom for almost two years. The land and people have both flourished under her hand and, at just 18 years old, she has conquered two other kingdoms and claimed another country for her own.

Her army, led by Sir Vernon Boyd IV, the fourth in his family to serve a Hale leader, is undefeated and will remain that way, God as her witness. He, another legend at only 18, has never lost a battle, and has promised to continue to serve her as long as she will have him.

Cora, as she likes to have her people call her (the formalities annoy her, though Boyd refuses to call her by just her name), is loved by her people and feared by those who know of her. She was raised to be self-sufficient, though she was born a royal, and hates having people to do things for her. She would fight in battle alongside Boyd if she could, but she's been told time and time again that those dreams are unbecoming of a queen.

"Sir Vernon?" She sits atop her throne in preparation to hear her people address her with their issues. Boyd stands next to her.

"M'lady?" He never moves, even his lips part only the minimum amount necessary to speak. She's almost positive she's never seen him blink.

"When this is finished, when the people have all gone. Will you accompany me on a trip?"

"Of course, Your Majesty."

She sighs, "Why must you call me that? The people almost never do, so why must you?"

He actually moves his head and looks at her. "You are my queen. It would be improper for me to call you by only your name." He faces front again, adjusts his armor slightly.

She wonders what he looks like under the metal plates. She caught a glimpse of his skin once, when he had come out of his washroom and she walked past. He was so beside himself, he pulled out his sword and knelt in front of her, waiting for her to cut off his head. She simply brought him to his feet and returned the sword to its sheath and walked off without a word.

The doors swing open and Boyd directs his knights to keep the people at bay, and everyone complies. After accepting gifts of young livestock, chickens, and vegetables, Cora steps down from her throne and sighs. "Sir Isaac, ready two horses for myself and Sir Vernon," she smiles. "Please."

"Right away, Your Majesty," he nods and runs off to the stables.

"My Queen," Boyd adjusts the sheath on his hip, "Where are we going?"

"On a journey, Sir Vernon. I must think." She turns on her heel, her gown following with a twirl of its own.

"My Queen?"

"Hm?"

He clears his throat. "If you wish, if you will allow it, you may call me Boyd." His mouth twists into a crooked line, a smile and it takes Cora by surprise.

"Only once you agree to call me Cora."

"I... I cannot do that, m'lady. I apologize." He bows, then straightens up.

She waves her hand and walks towards the door. "Come now, Sir Vernon, we've a journey to make."

Cora loves riding horses, especially the ones she's acquired as gifts from other nobles, peace offerings from other kingdoms. Her horse for the day is one of the younger, faster mares--a beautiful gold coat with white hair-- and Boyd's is his own trusted stallion-- a rare, fully black steed, the strongest of all the colts his family had bred. Cora's lady-in-waiting, Lydia stands nearby, along with Isaac, and watches as they ride off.

They ride side-by-side for a while, their horses at the same trotting pace before Cora suddenly takes off with Boyd trailing behind. It catches him off guard, but not as much as hearing her laugh does.

When he finally catches up to her, she’s already dismounted her horse and is sitting in the grass a few feet from where the animal grazes. "Come, sit with me," Cora smiles. She takes note of how he looks at her while she wears her riding outfit.

Boyd is wary. He feels he should stay atop his horse, in case anyone has followed them or plans to attack. "Your Majesty?"

"I want us to talk. Please?" And he obliges.

She lays back, and he sits perfectly upright. "Do you ever take a moment for yourself, Sir Vernon? To take part in the world around you?"

"No," he grunts, "You and your safety are the world I am dedicated to. I refuse to let trivial things get in the way of that."

"I am safe here. You can let go of your duties for only a moment, can't you?"

"My apologies, Your Majesty, but I cannot."

"I command you to." He blinks twice. "Do you not hear me? I relinquish you of your duties so long as we are sitting here."

"I understand, Yo--" He stops himself, looks at her, then lays back on the grass. "Cora. I understand."

She teaches him how to relax, how to just be a part of the earth rather than walk along it. They watch the horses who've taken a liking to each other. "Why do you serve me, Boyd?" She turns on her side and looks at him, twirls a blade of grass between her fingers.

"My great-grandfather stood alongside yours in battle. It was my destiny even before my father was conceived," he replies simply.

"Yes, but why do you serve me?"

"My Queen?"

"If you wanted, I would let you go. Live your life, have your own family. But you've never asked that of me. Why?"

He ponders her question for a moment. "I would have nowhere else to go. I am happy serving you, Cora. You, your palace, your well-being, it’s all I have ever known."

Boyd and Cora were both born within the same year, five months apart from each other in the same palace. Boyd first, in the knights' chambers, then Cora in the royal halls. They grew up together, ate together, played together. When she took the throne, she immediately appointed him first knight. "You are my best friend, Cora. I could never leave you," he smiles. She quickly kisses him on the cheek, like she used to when they were young, but now it's accompanied by a light blush.

"The Parliament requires I marry by the end of this year, else they'll take my throne," she says, quiet but emotionless some time later. "I do not wish to marry anyone. Not yet."

She looks over at him, and he's staring straight into the sky. "I will marry you," he says after a moment. "If you'll have me."

"Pardon me?"

"Who better to marry you when you do not wish to be married? This way, you will not have the displeasure of sorting through the hordes of callers."

"But... then, you would be King. You are aware of this?"

"Even as King, I can still ride a horse, go into battle, don my sword. You will still be the one ruling. I will just be sitting next to you, not standing."

She makes an agreeable noise, then chuckles. "Will you tell me more about your family?"

"My great-grandfather was wounded in the battle in which he fought with yours. My father told me that, had your great-grandfather not had mercy on him while recovering and banished him from his duties and the castle, he would have been killed." He looks over at her and smiles. "Our friendship was fate, Cora."

Boyd hears voices a distance away from them and before she can ask anything else, he's on his feet. "We must go, Your Majesty," he says, offering his hand.

"I thought we agreed you would stop calling me that." She takes it, notes how small her own is in his and stands.

"We are no longer sitting, m'lady," he smirks and untied the horses, waiting until she mounts hers to do the same, and they ride back to the palace. This time, Boyd wins.


	2. Chapter 2

“Lady Lydia,” Boyd calls as they reach the palace and he dismounts his horse, “I must speak with you.” Cora is assisted off of hers nearby and shoots him a knowing look, to which he smiles. “It is of the most urgent need.”

Lydia sees the exchange and nods. “I’m listening, Sir Vernon.”

“You see, Her Majesty’s throne is threatened by the very men we choose to run our land. The law states she must be married before she turns nineteen or she will not be allowed to remain queen.” He tucks his helmet under his arm.

“I understand.”

“I wish to ask for her hand in marriage, Lady Lydia, and since you are her caretaker, I have come to ask your permission.”

“Well, Sir Vernon, you have it and my blessing,” She smiles.

“Thank you, m’lady.” He bows, a grin on his face unlike any Lydia has seen before, then leads his horse into the stable.

Cora heads into the palace with Lydia following close behind. “Cora,” Lydia says, “I hear you are to be wed. To your first knight.” She clicks her tongue as they reach her bedchamber and she closes the door behind them. “He truly does love you, you are aware of this, yes?”

“He is selfless. There is no love between us, we’re simply friends. The best of, in fact,” Cora stands in front of her mirror as Lydia slides a red and black lace corset over her head. “All he means to do is keep me on the throne.” She rolls her eyes, hating how the corset manipulates her body shape. She exhales sharply as the first lace is tightened across her back.

“You may believe what you will, but I can see it. He’s loved you for years even. You are blind, Cora, but I am not. This is not just some wanton act of selflessness, Your Majesty. He has waited a long while for this.” She pulls the corset together and ties it into a bow at the base of her back. “Now, you must learn how to be a queen with a king.”

“What do you mean?” Cora turns to face her, confused. “I have been a queen, a ruler, for two years, what else must I learn?”

Lydia sighs, pulls the matching red skirt for the corset from the bureau and hands it to Cora. “You know how to rule alone, but now, you must learn to compromise. To rule alongside another.” She stands behind Cora, pulling some of her hair back and braiding it around the back of her head. “He will not just be a pawn for you to play your game of chess with, Cora. Believe it or not, Sir Vernon is a force to be reckoned with and he will make his presence known.” Cora turns to face her, a heavy sigh causing her chest to heave. “Supper will be prepared whenever you see fit, Your Majesty,” Lydia curtsies and takes her leave. Cora huffs. This means nothing, she thinks over and over again, hoping her heart would agree.

Cora likes to eat with as many people as can fit at the ridiculously long table in the dining room for every meal: all the knights, all the stable boys and the cooks and sometimes even the visiting government officials. Boyd is the only one who never shows for meals, even when she saves a seat for him right next to her.

“You missed supper,” she mutters when she walks up to him as he’s shining his armor in his quarters. He drops his rag and helmet, standing with his back straight. She nods at him, eyes rolling at his endless need to be proper. “There was a seat for you. There is always a seat for you.”

“I eat before the others,” he sits, simply glancing up at her for a moment, then going back to polishing his helmet. “Inefficient to have all of the guards together at once. It becomes easy for intruders to gain entry. Your Majesty.”

She furrows her brow and looks down at her fidgeting hands. “Well, I just...” she sighs, looking away from him as he looks up at her. “I wanted you there.”

He stops polishing and crosses the room to stand in front of her. She notices how fit he is, how the muscles she’s only imagined under his armor show through his clothes. “I apologize. Cora. My apologies. I will... attend supper tomorrow evening.” And when Cora smiles, he can’t help but smile, too.

“Fine, then,” she eyes him--down, up, down, and back up again. “I will see you in the morning.”

“Your Majesty?” He says as she turns to leave. “Do you require a ring?” It stops her in her path, and she can't help but look down at her hands. In her heart, she wants to nod, to say yes. But she shakes her head. "Oh," he says, "I will find you a suitable ring anyway. This marriage must be as believable as possible."

She finds herself speechless for a moment, trying to control the blush she could feel creeping up on her cheeks. She clears her throat quickly, “Yes. Yes, of course. The more believable, the better.” There’s a smile on her face that she has to hide as she shuffles out of the door, leaving him with a smile of his own.

Boyd and Cora announce their engagement during a banquet she holds. She invites everyone; the parliamentarians who are trying to take the throne are heralded as special guests for the evening, specifically one member whose entire term rests on proving that Cora is breaking the law by remaining unmarried.

The entertainment begins once everyone finishes eating, and he approaches their table. Boyd sighs into his cup and cuts his eyes at the man. “Queen Cora,” he bows, “Wonderful news, your betrothal.” His congratulations is as fake as the smile on his face, Boyd knows, and when the man turns to him, he simply waves his hand, refusing to let him open his mouth. Cora chuckles, then clears her throat.

“Thank you, Stiles. I--” She smiles at him sweetly, then grabs Boyd’s hand. “ _We_ are very happy.”

“Ecstatic,” Boyd interjects, a quick glance over at Cora before giving Stiles the same sweet smile she gave. “We hope you will be present for the ceremony.”

“Ah,” Stiles nods uncomfortably, “Of course. Wouldn’t dare miss it for the world.”


End file.
